Doing philosophy" on the periphery

Abstract

In this article, the author tries to articulate why contemporary Korean philosophy is satisfied with simply translating and mimicking Western theories from a historical and cultural psychological point of view. According to the author, Korean philosophy was intellectually colonized at three historical moments: namely, the period of Japanese colonial rule that derided traditional Korean philosophy as uncivilized and unenlightened, the military regimes that actively emulated the West in the name of "modernizing the fatherland," and the period of neoliberal globalization that caused a crisis in humanities and liberal arts. Undergoing these historical changes, Korean philosophy came to identify itself as an importer and translator of Western theories, thus abandoning its originality and self-reliance. At the end of the article, the author concludes with some suggestions and prospects for establishing an autogenous and self-reliant Korean philosophy.